Unlocking the Secrets of LinkedIn to Grow Your Business

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Venture Beat

You probably think of LinkedIn as "that site" that your friends and business associates have used in the past to search for job opportunities. But LinkedIn has become so much more, to millions of business professionals worldwide.

Did you know, that from 2010 to 2011, LinkedIn grew at a rate of 115%, growth that was higher than Facebook, Google or Microsoft? In fact, in December of 2011, LinkedIn was the 36th most visited website on the planet.

So, we asked the experts at Venture Beat to help us explore LinkedIn a bit closer. We want to understand all the ways that people are using LinkedIn, and why the site just may be the best place for you to grow your small business. Join us, and discover new ways and new strategies for your company's presence on LinkedIn. It's much more than just a networking site!

In the premiere episode of Market Movers, Christine Crandell sits down with Silicon Valley powerhouse, Ken Klein, CEO of Tintri.

Ken has a rich history in the valley of turning small companies big. Most notably, he led Mercury Interactive to become a billion dollar revenue generating powerhouse before HP acquired it for $5 billion.

Are your best candidates being snatched up before you can even make an offer? Protect your candidates and your company by implementing a Performer-Only recruiting process. Fight the dangers of internal miscommunication, unprepared interviewers, and unpleasant candidate experiences with organized performance hiring in this webinar with The Resumator’s CEO Don Charlton.

The online recruiting experience has come a long way since online job boards were launched in the late 1990s. Innovations from consumer applications, including ecommerce and mobile-first apps, have improved the application process, making it easier, more intuitive, and “consumer-esque.”

Join us for a 45 minute webinar with Vikram Subramaniam, EVP and General Manager at Findly, as he discusses how technological developments in ecommerce, mobile and other online innovations have influenced the recruiting process. With a wealth of experience developing key products for consumer companies like eBay and Netflix, Vikram will share why these features work and how you can implement them to improve your candidate experience.

Regardless of our intentions, values and beliefs, we often automatically jump to conclusions. In talent management, this can cause more damage than simply a prolonged hiring process.

Without mitigating our automatic biases, they can easily make it more difficult for us to find, attract, engage and retain talent. This quick-hitting webinar will unpack the what, why and how of unconscious bias.

Like many growing companies in the bay area, Evernote struggled to hire elite technical talent quickly. In this webinar, lead recruiter at Evernote, Kelly Grossart, shares how the Evernote recruiting team has created a better interview experience for candidates and hiring managers, rebuilt the technical interview plan, and leveraged HackerRank and Greenhouse to find and hire top technical talent.

Goals Setting and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are experiencing a major growth spurt as companies are looking for better ways to execute on business strategy. This surge in popularity has brought a lot of companies, friends, and former co-workers to our doorstep asking for advice on OKRs.

In this webinar, we will share valuable industry stats, best practices and war stories from high-performing companies like Intel and Google on how goals can help drive valuable business results.

Choosing the right provider for your business can be a very challenging and frustrating task with an overwhelming number of options available. In this webinar, hear Vermon Girouda, FinFit's Director of IT, outline his process for choosing the communications provider and describe how FinFit:

— Saved 60% on their phone bill
— Improved their internal communications and response times
— Received a much more robust feature set
— Eliminated administrative and billing headaches

Giroud says, “I measure a company by how well it responds when you have issues. RingCentral has very professional people who know what they are talking about.”

The BCI's annual Horizon Scan report, in partnership with BSI, was published in February 2015 and the BCI and BSI are hosting a webinar to highlight some of the results. Historically the Horizon Scan has shown that unplanned IT and telecoms outage is the greatest threat to BC practitioners, but will this remain the case? All will be revealed!
In this webinar, the report's author - Patrick Alcantara - will discuss the findings in greater depth along with BSI's Lorraine Orr.

Companies with great products and services shouldn’t struggle to generate enough qualified leads to meet their growth goals. Join #1 bestselling author Justin Blaney to learn how to build awareness, excitement, demand and trust for your brand with less financial investment. Double your leads in 2015—and not just any leads. Not lists of names, or appointments that don’t happen, or people who signed up to win an iPad. We’re talking about prospects who know you, want you and can afford you. In less than an hour, Justin will share 3 simple, yet powerful steps to produce more leads with less investment that you can start implementing today. This webinar will include a time for Q&A to ensure your questions are answered and you can apply these steps to your unique business.

When longtime This American Life and Planet Money producer Alex Blumberg decided to start his own company, he faced a lot of barriers. He'd never been a CEO. He'd never run a company. In fact, the last time he'd even worked in the private sector was over 30 years earlier, as a bagger at a grocery school when he was in high school. And yet, in just 6 months, he'd successfully raised 1.5 million dollars at a 10 million dollar valuation, all while documenting his journey in a podcast called StartUp. Alex shares story and the lessons he's learned along the way.

An incredible opportunity to Ask Daymond John about how to get your business started!

A young entrepreneur, industry pioneer, highly regarded marketing expert and a man who has surpassed new heights of commercial and financial success are just a few ways people have described Daymond John. Over the last 20 years, Daymond John (The Shark) has evolved from one of the most successful fashion icons of his generation to a highly sought after branding expert, author, consultant, and as a speaker in business and motivational genres.

Daymond’s creative vision and strong knowledge of the marketplace created one of the most iconic fashion brands in recent years. FUBU, (“For Us By Us”), represented a lifestyle that was neglected by other clothing companies. Realizing this need in the marketplace, Daymond helped to create the
untapped urban apparel space and laid the groundwork for other companies to compete in this newly established market.

In 2009, John joined the cast of the ABC entrepreneurial business show, Shark Tank, produced by acclaimed TV producer Mark Burnett. As one of the “Sharks”, Daymond and four other prominent executives listen to business pitches from everyday people hoping to launch their company or product to new heights. Investing his own money in every project, Daymond becomes partners with the entrepreneurs helping turn their dreams into a reality. Millions of viewers tune into the show as Daymond demonstrates his marketing prowess and entrepreneurial insights, which have earned him his nickname as “The Shark.”

Small business owners are different where their personal finances are concerned. They have more (often better) options when it comes to retirement, but all too often their business becomes their retirement plan. Personal finance expert and best-selling author Jean Chatzky has pulled together Money Rules to get small business owners on the right track for financial success personally, because only then can you focus your all on your business.

Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s Today Show, is an award-winning personal finance journalist, AARP’s personal finance ambassador, and the host of Money Matters with Jean Chatzky on RLTV. She is a longtime magazine columnist and the best-selling author of eight books, the latest of which is Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security. She believes that knowing how to manage money is one of the most important life skills for people at every age and has made it her mission to help simplify money matters by increasing financial literacy. To that end, she recently launched Jean Chatzky's Money School—online classes on crucial financial topics like saving, budgeting, getting out of debt, and planning for retirement—that she teaches herself at JeanChatzky.com.

Now more than ever every entrepreneur needs to rethink the way their company has to face their brand recognition challenges in a marketplace that has succumbed to social media. Small businesses will grow and prosper in the social media marketing competitive climate, when founders, owners and managers initiate and enforce radical change.

Farrah Gray was named as one of the most influential Black men in America by the National Urban League. Ebony Magazine and Black Enterprise recognized him as an entrepreneurial icon and best-selling author. Raised in the impoverished South side of Chicago, Gray defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. At the age of 21, he received an Honorary Doctorate degree of Humane Letters from Allen University. This was in recognition of his ingenious economic mind and distinguished commitment to the development of values such as leadership, integrity and scholarship. In his rise from poverty to national and international prominence as an entrepreneurial icon and pre-eminent power speaker, Farrah Gray has inspired millions around the world. At the age of 29, he has achieved more than many achieve in a lifetime.

For more information and to get a copy of Gray’s complimentary eBook Comfort Is the Enemy of Achievement, visit www.farrahgray.com

Join Dan Rather as he shares leadership principles of the world’s most powerful leaders and how small businesses can benefit from them in the Verizon Small Business Ready Webinar Series.

For more than 40 years, former CBS News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Dan Rather has been the embodiment of the intrepid broadcast journalist. From the Kennedy assassination—where he was the first to break the news that the president had been killed—to the Indian Ocean tsunami, he has covered every major story of our time, with distinction and a fierce dedication to hard news. For his unparalleled devotion to his craft, he was named the 2012 recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Rather’s reporting skills are legendary, and his single-minded pursuit of the story has taken him to datelines as far ranging as Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Russia, and Cuba.

On the domestic front, Rather has covered every presidential campaign since 1952. Rather’s latest journalistic venture is the hard-edged news show Dan Rather Reports, broadcasted on AXS TV, on which he acts as both host and managing editor. With his renowned in-depth interviews and his love of investigative reporting, Rather is able to accurately report on major issues facing our nation today. From politics and the global economy to international affairs and the environment, he gives each story the time and commitment that it deserves.

In May 2012 his memoir, Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News, was published.

Learn from the pros and discover how using simple tactics can help you expand your business legally and financially.

John Meyer is the marketing leader for The Company Corporation, the Small Business Unit at Corporation Service Company® (CSC®), which incorporates tens of thousands of new businesses annually and provides ongoing compliance services to hundreds of thousands of companies located throughout the U.S.

Meyer is a small business start-up expert with The Company Corporation. He leads the organization's educational programs and moderates the company's popular webinar series which features small business owners, authors and business experts.

Erika Martin is an Entrepreneur and Independent Consultant with CAbi LLC, a social selling company specializing in Women’s Clothing, and previous owner of Options llc, a personal concierge company. Erika is born and raised in Washington DC but after graduation from University of Maryland College Park, she traveled the globe with then MCI Telecommunications for 14 years in various corporate management positions. Erika began her entrepreneurial quest after MCI was purchased by Worldcom and never looked back. Erika is engaged
to be married to prominent DC lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, and through blended families she has a son Cole (9 years old), Twin daughters Mckay and McKenzie (18 years old), daughter Shayla (30 years old), and a granddaughter Ashanti (11 years old). Balancing life/work is a large part of why Erika chose to go into business for herself.

Kristie Arslan is the President & CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed. Kristie has been with the NASE for the past 12 years, most recently as its Executive Director. With years of advocating on behalf of the self-employed nationwide and her own personal experience working for her family's small business, she provides critical insight into the issues affecting our nation's entrepreneurs.

Arslan's main goal is to help NASE Members achieve their American dream of successful business ownership. Kristie works closely with policymakers in Congress and the Administration and strives to increase the visibility and influence of the NASE to ensure that the self-employed have a seat at the table in Washington D.C.

Currently, Arslan serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) and the Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC). In addition, she is the Chair and founding member of the coalition supporting Equity for Our Nation's Self-Employed. Arslan has been quoted and published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Roll Call, The Hill and CQ Weekly, and has appeared on MSNBC, FOX, CNBC and C-SPAN. She is also an active blogger on the Huffington Post and Small Business Trends.

As the editor and publisher of Enterprising Women, Monica Smiley has spent the last decade building the national and now global magazine she leads into a strong voice for women entrepreneurs. Founded as the only national magazine published exclusively for women business owners, the print and digital editions of the magazine now reach a million women entrepreneurs in 185 countries around the globe. The company also hosts the annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, considered the most prestigious awards program for outstanding women business owners from around the globe. While Enterprising Women began its tenth year in May 2009 serving the women business owner community, Monica has been the president of a magazine publishing and marketing communication business for nearly 30 years, publishing both consumer and trade magazine titles.

Considered a national thought leader on women’s entrepreneurship, Monica serves on the National Association of Women Business Owners National Advisory Council and is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization. EW is a founding coalition partner of Women Impacting Public Policy, and she has represented the United States six times as a delegate to the Global Summit of Women (in Morocco, Germany, Chile, China, Turkey, and Greece), a gathering of nearly a thousand women entrepreneurs, women business leaders, and women Cabinet or Ministerial level government leaders from more than 90 countries actively involved in the Peace Through Business program, sponsored by the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW), Monica has served as a mentor in the program for the past four years, hosting women business owners from Afghanistan and Rwanda in her North Carolina home. She founded the Enterprising Women Foundation in March 2011 to benefit the growth of women’s entrepreneurship here and around the world. A recipient of numerous awards, she is a native of Bay City, Michigan.

As founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, Keith Ferrazzi works to transform old behaviors that block businesses from reaching strategic goals into new behaviors that increase value. Ferrazzi has perfected techniques of collaborative coaching and motivation of key constituencies that positively transform behavior.

Verizon Live presents Author, Executive Momentum Coach and Global Leader, Denise J. Hart is fulfilling her life's purpose by helping people define their Don't Quit attitude and KICK fear to the curb as they radically transform their mindset for a more meaningful life and career.

From graduating from college at the age of 32, to becoming a tenured college professor and owner of a brand and soul message, Mindset Mojo, llc, that helps millions of people around the world live a better life than they could have even imagined, Denise's life is a testament to her optimistic Don't Quit attitude!

Denise is a member of world renowned speaker and breakthrough specialist Lisa Nichols' Global Leaders Team and a featured weekly blogger at ForHarriet.com. Her work is guided by her 18 years as an entrepreneur and her service as a tenured professor of theatre where she has immersed herself in studying the principles of creativity and the transformative impact of creative thought and expression, and her study of the teachings of thought leaders such as Lisa Nichols, Andrea Lee, Marianne Williams, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Covey, Eric Maisel, Michael Beckwith, Edward deBono, Charles Haanal, Wallace D. Wattles, Rollo May and Louise Hay.

A lively, dynamic speaker and facilitator, known for delivering her message centered on truth, love and unlimited possibility in her signature style filled with humor and kick-in-the-pants honesty, Denise is also the author of the go-to-guide for people who want to thrive, "Your Daily Mindset Mojo - 365 power thoughts to help you change your mindset and transform your life!" Visit her blog for more insightful tips to help you thrive! http://www.motivationmama.com

Join Robby Hill, HillSouth, as he discusses Your Business and the Cloud Evolution. Learn how cloud applications apply to your small business and understand some of the complexities and amazing features that the technology offers. Get firsthand information on the shift from just selling PCs to focusing on the many cloud computing products that are flooding the marketplace and understand what to look for to meet your needs.

Robby Hill is an entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of an information technology consulting firm called HillSouth.

Robby has received numerous accolades for his work through the years. The US Small Business Administration honored him as Young Entrepreneur of the Year for South Carolina and the Southeastern US in 2007. His company, HillSouth, was honored by the South Carolina Department of Commerce in 2007 with the Palmetto Workforce Partnership Award. HillSouth is ranked 994 on the 2012 Inc 500|5000 list, received honors in 2012 from CRN magazine as both a FastGrowth 100 company and NextGen 250 company for exceptional innovation and growth in the technology consulting industry. Robby has also been named Small Business Person of the year by the Florence Chamber of Commerce and for two years was honored at the White House as one of the top 100 young entrepreneurs in the country, as ranked by the Empact group.

He currently serves as the Chairman of the Pee Dee Workforce Investment Board (WIB). In November 2012 he was elected to serve as Councilman for the City of Florence, which is South Carolina’s tenth-largest municipality.

Based on an excerpt from "The Small Business Bible," Steve Strauss will share creative, inexpensive marketing ideas like overnight radio, social media, pay-per-click, personal letters, e-newsletters, webinars, and more to help small businesses excel.

Steve Strauss is often called “the country’s leading small business expert.” The senior USATODAY small business columnist and best-selling author, Steve’s latest book is the all-new, 3rd edition of The Small Business Bible. A lawyer, author, and public speaker, Steve is also a frequent guest on TV and radio. He sits on the board of the World Entrepreneurship Forum and regularly speaks across the globe about small business strategies and global trends in business. His company, The Strauss Group, creates cutting-edge business content for everyone from Fortune 100 companies to small chambers of commerce. If you would like Steve to speak to your group, help your business grow, or if you would like to sign up for his free newsletter, “Small Business Success Secrets!” please visit his new website for the self-employed, TheSelfEmployed.com

January signals a time for all of us that the holidays are over, and it’s time to get back to the business of making money and growing our businesses. So, we're kicking off our 2013 webinar series to business owners with one that’s inspirational, aspirational and motivational! “The Most Important Secrets to Success...from the greatest sports coaches of all time”, will be hosted by Damien and Derek Hoffman. They are co-founders of the online news and investment guide, Wall Street Cheat Sheet.

Wall St. Cheat Sheet is a leading financial media company, providing top insights specifically for investors, business professionals, and entrepreneurs. Wall St. It also provides premium investment newsletters for serious investors in stocks, gold, commodities, and ETFs. The company was named the #1 Social Media Influencer on Wall Street according to Forbes, a finalist for Forbes List of America’s Most Promising Companies in 2011, as well as a top financial outlet according to the Wall Street Journal.

There, Damien Hoffman is currently Editor-in-Chief of Wall St. Cheat Sheet. He has also worked for boutique sports investment bank Inner Circle LLP where he worked on the sale of the NBA franchise New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn real estate development firm Forest City Ratner Companies. He also appears on Yahoo Finance, Fox Business Network, and is a frequent guest speaker.

Derek Hoffman is currently the CEO of Wall St. Cheat Sheet. He is a regular contributor to CNNMoney and Fox Business Network. Mr. Hoffman has handled media investment and tactical strategy planning for Procter & Gamble and Gillette’s national asset portfolio. He has also worked in private wealth management for Morgan Stanley.

Please plan on joining us for an informative and motivating discussion, and maybe a few tips on how and where to put your money in 2013. As always, our webinars are free. So tell your friends and business associates--and help us to start this year’s webinar series with a bang!

Chris Dessi is a CEO of Silverback Social. He is also an award winning digital thinker, television & radio commentator, author, blogger, and public speaker.

Throughout his career in New York and London Chris has worked with Fortune 500 businesses and start-ups alike. To Chris, social media is much more of a spiritual awakening rather than a technological one. This revolutionary perspective has propelled his personality into the New York media landscape.

Dessi is a regular social media expert contributor on Fox Evening News, and Good Day New York. He has appeared on the Steve Adubato show One to One, and has made Radio appearances on the John Gambling show on WOR Radio in NYC, and the Mary Beth Marsden show in Baltimore on WBAL.

His first book “Your World is Exploding: How Social Media is Changing Everything and How You Need to Change With It”, shot to #1 on Amazon.com’s Hot New Releases in it’s first two weeks of publication.

We've asked Chris to join us, and talk about this. As you may have experienced, Social Media can be a real challenge for time-deprived small business owners. Between maintaining a company website and managing email communications with your customers and prospects, its difficult to stay on top of all the other Social Media tactics--and figure out which ones are working for your business.

Chris helps you sort through this jungle. But he also explains "why" you need to stay on top of this technology and provides you with insights on how its helping businesses to grow. If you're not convinced that you need to be on Facebook or Google+ or LinkedIn, and if you stll haven't sent your first Tweet to a customer, then you need to find out what you're missing.

The Company Corporation is a highly useful resource for Small Business owners, dedicated to helping small businesses with products, services and information that you might not be able to afford ala carte on your own.

Our presenter today will be John Meyer. John wears many hats at The Company Corporation. He’s a Start-Up Specialist, helping small business owners to get the information they need to launch their dreams. He’s also in charge of their Marketing efforts and manages all of their Strategic Partnerships. And, he’s a seasoned pro at webinars, managing The Company Corporation’s own webinar schedule,guest topics and promotions.

During this webinar, John will start by discussing the pros and cons of becoming incorporated—and whether this step is right for your small business and “why”. He’ll outline the various types of corporations that can be set up and clarify why you might consider one type of corporation over another. Finally, he'll talk about how you can get your business incorporated in 10 simple steps.

It’s not something you need to tackle on your own. And, you don’t need to worry if you have more questions after today’s webinar. The Company Corporation is also in the business of helping you through this process, and more!

So, plan on joining us to ask John Meyer and The Company Corporation all of your questions about "how" and "what" decisions you should be making for financial well-being and protection of your business.

Our presenter was named by Forbes Magazine as the #1 Influential Woman for Entrepreneurs; Melinda Emerson is also the host of an online live chat session called #SmallBizChat; She’s the Author of “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months”. Melinda’s an expert in the areas of start-ups, social media and reinventing a business or brand.

Twitter is the perfect marketing tool for a small business. If you are a start-up or embarking on a reinvention or perhaps trying to become a thought leader in your industry, Twitter is the ideal platform. But do you know how to leverage your Twitter for your business? Melinda F. Emerson Twitter’s @SmallBizLady has one of the largest small business brands on Twitter and Verizon is partnering with her to teach you "How to Become a Twitter Ninja to Grow Your Small Business".

Webinar attendees will learn how to develop branded hashtags, create a tweetchat, the best resources for scheduling tweets, how to most effectively use twitter lists, and repurpose older content to grow your twitter following. @SmallBizlady is a Twitter Ninja and you can be too. Join us Wednesday, Oct 10th at 2pm EST for How to Become a Twitter Ninja to Grow Your Small Business. This webinar is not for beginners, only advanced Twitter techniques will be taught. Sign up today!

Tell your friends about this one!

This is the last in our series to celebrate Women in Small Business. We hope you've enjoyed this series. Tweet us if you liked our guests and support for women in small business!

Why are we hosting a series of three webinars focused on Women in Small Business? Well, the obvious answer is because the whole month of October celebrates the contributions of women in small business.

The less obvious answer is because there are now well over 8 Million women-owned small businesses in our country. It's estimated that these entrepreneurs generate more than $1.3 Trillion in revenue. They're also employing more than 7.7 Million workers. And they now account for about 29% of all enterprises. Nationally, the number of women-owned businesses has increased by 50% since 1997.

So, we wanted to gain and share the perspectives of 3 very unique, talented and highly successful female entrepreneurs. Each represents small business from a unique vantage point--from a very localized business to very national in reach and Brand. There's something for everyone in this discussion.

We'll find out how each of them got started, what they struggled with then--and now, and how their businesses are doing in the current economy. We'll also find out what's worked for them from a marketing and social media perspective and about how they plan to grow their businesses in the future.

This is sure to be an informative webinar, and as always, there will be an opportunity for you to ask our panelists questions, or for advice related to your specific business needs.

We hope you'll join us as we continue to celebrate the many contributions of women in small business today!